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Seagulls 'Lured To Their Death' In St Ives

Pirate FM has been told seagulls are being lured to their death in St Ives.

Local artist Linda Weir claimed she has seen youngsters throwing food in front of cars as the birds swoop, so they get hit.

She found one lying dead in the road and another badly hurt on Sunday.

The town's notorious for how aggressive its gulls can be, especially when they are feeding chicks.

Linda said: "No-one wants to think about a different species' needs. We don't have a seagull problem, we have a people problem."

The RSPCA has warned such attacks on seagulls, which are protected, are illegal.

Adam Grogan, Senior Scientific Officer from the RSPCA, said: "I think it is unfortunate some people take these sort of rather despicable actions. These malicious attacks are worse in that somebody doesn't have a reason, they're just doing it to entertain themselves or so on. I think regardless of that, we would just urge tolerance to all wild animals that have adapted to live with us.

"Gulls, like all birds, are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. We would want to investigate any cases where somebody has seen any behaviour like that. So if anybody does see anything they're concerned about they should call our cruelty line and then we will investigate the matter further."